Starstruck at Global, or, why you should wear Anthropologie as much as possible

I’ve got plenty to tell you about all the great stuff I got to see at Global Pet Expo last week. I enjoyed it immensely. But before I get to the products and the pictures and the video (oh, the video is awesome) I’m going to tell you about all the celebrity spotting I got to do.

Admittedly, celebrities in the pet industry are a little different than celebrities on, say, the red carpet, but to me they are much more interesting. And there were plenty to be found at this show.

On Wednesday, I dragged myself downstairs promptly at 8 am to catch a shuttle from the hotel to the convention center. I was jet lagged, it was muggy, so I wasn’t paying a whole lot of attention to what was going on around me and I was mostly focused on getting on the correct bus. I nodded hello to the group who boarded ahead of me and plopped in the seat.

“I love your skirt,” said a beautiful, well-dressed woman sitting in front of me. She nudged her daughter, who turned around and agreed the skirt was very nice. “Where did you get it?”

“Anthropologie,” I said, because although I have a large collection of couture from Tar-zhay, I splurge every once in a while so I can look somewhat manageable at conferences and the like.

“What a shame,” she sighed. “We don’t have those in Idaho.”

“You could always get it online,” I said, and pulled up the website on my iphone. 

So as I was showing her what they had on the Anthro site, her husband in the next aisle turned around to speak to the person sitting behind him, and then- duh- I put two and two together. I was sitting behind none other than Dr. Marty Becker, probably the most famous vet in the country, and his lovely family.

And I never would have had the nerve to go up and introduce myself to America’s Favorite Veterinarian all by myself, because I’m shy that way, but thanks to the Power of Anthropologie, Dr. Becker’s wife did it for me. She told him I wrote a blog, and he asked which one, and when I said “pawcurious”, he said- no, really- “Oh, I know that one.”

By the time I collected myself from the puddle of happy goo I melted into at that, we had arrived at the convention center, and I bid adieu to my new friends. The Becker family is as lovely and gracious in person as they are on TV and Vetstreet, I am happy to report. So there you have it: for the shy, have a statement piece from your favorite store break the ice for you. Works every time.

But they weren’t the only pet industry celebs in attendance. I also got to meet Nina Ottosson, who is one of the innovators in the field in the world of puzzle toys and enrichment for animals. She was demonstrating the newest toy in her line with a beautiful puppy borrowed from a local rescue:

And I met Mr. Bill. I admit this is pushing it as far as “celebrity sightings” go, but I thought it was cool, so there you go.

I have to thank Evan from Impetus for telling me Jack Hanna was also there, because I missed that announcement at the morning press conference and I would have been terribly sad to have missed him. Not only was he there, he brought a kangaroo and an armadillo.

I’m sure you can imagine how hard it was for me to see someone else cuddling a baby kangaroo and not be able to put my mitts on it. TRUST ME I’M A VET. 🙂

I never knew armadillos were so cute. The FEET! The itty bitty feet!

WAY cooler than seeing Brangelina, I have to say. Stay tuned for some of my favorite items from the show as well as the “We Love Pet Products” video from me and Caroline Golon.